Gigstarter Artist of the Year 2018

What is the Gigstarter Artist of the Year competition?

Gigstarter Artist of the Year is an annual competition since 2014. People can subscribe for the competition from 13th September until the 30th September 2018. After that period a jury makes a shortlist out of all the artists that entered the contest. The final shortlist will be announced at October 16, 2018. From that moment on fans and followers can submit their votes on the artists on the shortlist. On the Gigstarter profile page of the artist, fans can submit their votes. The top 3 live acts with most of the votes will be invited to play a live gig during the Artist of the Year final on December 8th, 2018. This year’s final will be held at Sugar Factory, Amsterdam.

What happens at the Gigstarter Artist of the Year final?

The three artists that win the online voting competition get to perform during the final. After the three live performances, the expert jury will decide which act will become Gigstarter Artist of the Year 2018. In addition to a jury-prize, Gigstarter will be giving away a prize to the performance that wins the audience’s popular vote. Furthermore, the DJ of the Year will be entertaining the crowd with its music.

Which artists can participate?

Every artist who has a public profile on Gigstarter and who can perform original compositions for at least 40 minutes, can participate at the competition. Competing artist-formations can range from live solo-artists to full bands and are only allowed to play one cover song during the final. For DJs a parallel, yet separate competition is organised, which allows the winning DJ to perform during the event at the Sugar Factory, Amsterdam. Artists of the Year finalists from previous years are excluded from the competition.

How do artists participate?

With only one push on the button you can participate in the Gigstarter Artist of the Year 2018 competition. To compete, login, go to your artist dashboard and click the "Participate" button, registrations closes on September 30, 2018. On October 16, 2018, the jury will announce the shortlist and fans and followers can start voting on their favorite band. A ‘vote’ button will be showed temporarily on your Gigstarter Artist profile. Make sure to ask all your fans to vote for you through social media by sharing the link to your profile after you are part of the shortlist!

Shortlist

The jury full of experts from the music industry depends their choice for the shortlist on the musical quality of the artists and the quality of the Gigstarter profile. The shortlist can contain artists with different musical background and/or genres. Take a look at the shortlist and vote for your favorite act!

What can artists win?

The winner, chosen by the expert jury, holds the title of Gigstarter Artist of the Year 2018 and will not leave empty handed. The competition gives artist great exposure and a unique opportunity to perform at a high-end international venue.

Can DJs join the competition?

There is a special competition for the DJs on Gigstarter. Every DJ who has a public profile on Gigstarter can participate in the competition. The DJ should be able to perform for at least one hour and is free in its selection of music. The DJ with most votes can perform during and after the final.

How can I vote?

You can vote for your favorite artists, from October 16, through a link on the profile of competing artists. You will need to login with Facebook to identify yourself (this way we know that every user is unique and helps us detect fraud). We will only use your voters' email addresses to send a single invitation for the Artist of the Year final.

Until when can I vote?

Everyone can vote from October 16, 2018 until November 6, 2018. At that point, the top 3 most popular artists and the winning DJ will be determined.

How many times is it possible to vote?

You can vote only one time on a particular artist, but on as many different artists as you’d like! If we suspect any form of fraud, we have the right to remove those votes.

Can I attend the Gigstarter Artist of the Year final?

For sure! The exciting final of the Gigstarter Artist of the Year competition will take place on December 8th at the Sugar Factory, Amsterdam. More information is coming soon!

Will finalists receive a remuneration?

Gigstarter cannot provide travel or accommodation expenses of any kind for finalist.

Which artist won last year?

After 3 amazing performances during the final Artist of the Year 2017. The talented band Dean and the Moonboys went home with the title Gigstarter Artist of the Year 2017, as well as several nice prizes! DJ Mike Gerritsen won the title DJ of the Year 2017 and played a set during the final.

ACES had their start in spring 2015 initiatated by Steve Perry and Eric Wildeboer, recently after that start Aldo and Cees joined the band and is still the formation up until know.
De creative minds behind the numbers are Eric en Steve, lead singing and lead guitar, they are the writers of our songs, dynamic ballads and real rock A.C.E.S. songs.
All four members have played in different bands and have stage experience.

ACES is a rockband from the Netherlands with their own songs, dynamic rock with a specific A.C.E.S. identity.
If you want to describe there sound then it is a mix of classic rock, dynamics which can be recognized in their songs.
De band keeps growing in performance and music wise which is important for the members , this results into a energetic stage performance which catches the public .
In 2016 they win the title "best band on stage " during the festival "Huizerdag in Holland. And they are won the title "artist of the year 2016" in de final of Gigstarter.nl...!!!

Originally the band members are from different areas such as; Amsterdam, Enschede, Suriname and Engeland, but presently all living the Netherlands.

What I look for in a band is; great sound, stage presence, audience interaction, unity and that x factor.

Sound: The sound that A.C.E.S can make, is frankly insane. Incredible goosebumps kind of music. Very rich tonally. They know exactly who plays what role and no sounds step on each other.

Stage presence: I've seen all to many bands that play great but look like they are doing their taxes on stage. These guys are different.

The vocalist, just the way he stands breathes confidence and power.

The guitarist takes full advantage of the stage moves around and interacts with the band keeping the fire alive.

The bassist does not shine over the vocalist and hangs back but when its his time to shine, he has got a great smile and adds a different more laid back presence on stage which keeps the show balanced.

The Drummer has a similar quality to the bassist and knows now to make a show rock.

Audience interaction: While not super interactive. The band does acknowledge the crowd and makes faces and waves at individuals from time to time. I feel that this could be better, however it really does depend on the event and audience. I'm sure that when A.C.E.S find a crowd that matches their act, magic happens.

Unity: They have a great look on stage, very rock and roll. The singer has a darker style about him, where the guitarist dresses a little flashier.

While they don't all dress the same, the variation that they offer is pleasing to the crowd. Their in-band interaction is solid. you know they are friendly offstage too. Its nice to see people play amazingly and actually authentically see them having fun together on stage as well.

X-Factor: While hard to explain what exactly it is. These guys have it.
Its not often rock that hard can give someone goosebumps. I really think these guys are a diamond in the rough. It wont be long before you see them playing very major gigs. If you book them, you will see why.